Kgathi impressed with Lobatse Stadium progress

BOITUMELO KHUTSAFALO
Staff Writer | Friday November 20, 2009 00:00

Kgathi stated as much as they encourage projects to be finished on time, quality should not be compromised. The minister is happy that the new Lobatse stadium meets FIFA standards. He has toured other facilities under refurbishment such as the National Stadium, SSKB Stadium and Francistwon Stadium. In Lobatse, Kgathi said that the contractor, Zhong Gan Engineering and Construction company has promised that the facility will be ready for the World Cup and judging by what he has seen, he believes them. He said the people of Lobatse will be happy to see the finished facility.

The minister said that as a member of the 2010 Task Force, he will be watching with keen interest the World Cup draw to see which teams will play near Botswana and start making serious moves to woo them to train in the country.

The project manager, Francis Mtema said they are slightly behind schedule because they have to redesign the facility to make it bigger. He said in the initial design, the facility was supposed to be 12,000-seater stadium but now it is a 20, 000-seater. He said the money for the actual design took sometime to be approved and caused a slight delay as the contractor could not embark on the project before the money is released. The stadium was supposed to be completed by the end of January next year but this has been pushed to March. Mtema said that he is generally impressed with the progress they have made so far.

Besides the main stadium, the facility consists of a grassed rugby pitch, a sports hall for indoor activities, two ungrassed football pitches, two grassed football pitches and one grassed cricket field. The parking lot will accommodate 403 vehicles. There are parking spaces for buses, mini-buses, VIP and the public.